Double Bass Best 100wt Bass Amp?

[Joe Tully]

There is an Ampeg 450wt 4×10" plus horn on Amazon $489 free shipping. It weighs 48# and my back hurts thinking about it. BUT there is also a 350wt head for $350. That and a random cabinet could be the Holy Grail. Any takers?

 

[TroyK]

I'm running out of things to recommend to you. I tried a lot of things before I found what worked for me, you may need to do the same.

We all chase "the sound in my head" and "my bass, only louder" to greater or lesser degrees. The room matters, the band matters, strings matter, the player DEFINITELY matters.

I think your theoretical country club gig with what sounds like a tasteful, not overpowering group is not an overly challenging edge case. If you play enough you're going to run into a few that nothing really works for. At the end of the day, how far do you want to chase perfect amplification is a personal and sometimes economic decision.

You've gotten a lot of good advice in this thread though, from gigging professionals.

 

[shwashwa]

There is an Ampeg 450wt 4×10" plus horn on Amazon $489 free shipping. It weighs 48# and my back hurts thinking about it. BUT there is also a 350wt head for $350. That and a random cabinet could be the Holy Grail. Any takers?

i gave up on 4x10 a long time ago... one thing i do look at is size..

 

[Joe Tully]

I can't express how much I appreciate the help and advice. It is not lost on me. I am nodding my head more than scratching it now. I think we can all get on with our lives. I will post when I buy something. Happy plucking. (Pizzicado bene)

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

Before Covid, I would play a gig one night and really love my sound. The bass played great and the sound out of the amp was really great. The next night with exactly the same bass and amp was painful, maybe in a room that didn’t seem all that different.
I gradually settled for gear that was flexible enough to never sound bad. Is the eq sufficiently flexible to tame the low end or desk with the piezo pickup quack?
I want the other musicians to hear me clearly with a reasonable facsimile of my acoustic sound.
At lower volumes the amp doesn’t matter as much.
I’m about done here. The tone is different in every player’s head as are the voices screaming in there. Where was I?

 

[bherman]

I’ll put another option out there for you. For a head, I use a Genzler Magellan 350 (350 watts @ 4 ohms). I use it with several different speaker cabs, depending on need. The primary cab is a Genzler 10-2 array, makes a great combo and can cover just about any kind/size of gig. It’s an 8 ohm cabinet. I also have a RevSound 210 that I love - it weighs a bit more but still under 30 lbs, don’t really need it for anything other than loud outdoor gigs. It’s 4 ohm. I also have a RevSound 18 on the way for practice and really small gigs - 12 lbs!

If you are patient, you can find used Magellan’s in TB classifieds from IMI to time for around $325. They are outstanding amps for DB. I got mine used in perfect shape for that price. Quality is top notch as is customer service.

If I was trying to make do with just one cab, I’m not sure that it would be the 210 just because its a bit bigger and heavier. When you’re already hauling a DB plus other gear, it matters.

Do pay attention to ohms, especially if you think that you might need to pair up cabs at some point - the Magellan can go down to 2.67 ohms which means that you can pair an 8 ohm and 4 ohm cab. Or two 8 hm cabs. Always better in my experience to use cabs that are matching.

If I were in your position, I’d consider buying a good quality head and a single 8 ohm cab (maybe 110 or 112); it would cover you for most gigs, and you can add a second matched cab if needed in the future.

AI or Acoustic Image are top notch, but it would be hard to buy one of their heads in your budget range. I’ve owned both and settled on Genzler as more musical than either of those two for my tastes.

I’d stay away from Ampeg stuff - not that great for DB in my experience, and cabs tend towards the heavy (and colored sound) end of things. Rumbles are ok, but I’d think modular for the longer-term.

 

[AGCurry]

There is an Ampeg 450wt 4×10" plus horn on Amazon $489 free shipping. It weighs 48# and my back hurts thinking about it. BUT there is also a 350wt head for $350. That and a random cabinet could be the Holy Grail. Any takers?

I'll pass, thank you.

 

[Joe Tully]

I'll throw this into the mix... This being the Covid season, the venue being a golf course and things being what they are, I'd bet there's a chance you'll be playing outside sometime. That means AC power may or may not be easily available.

I've been using a Roland Micro Cube Bass RX for both indoor and outdoor playing. I'm not 100% pleased with the tone voicing because it's a general purpose bass amp, not one dedicated to double bass tone, but from a power standpoint it's pretty amazing. This is a <15# 4"x4 speaker combo amp that runs for about 20 hours on 6AA batteries. It's rated at 5w, but that's because it's tuned for battery power -- the real sound power is more like somewhere between 60w and 100w depending on how you stand it. I can use it with my double bass using either my pre-amped piezo system or with my mounted mic.

The secret with small amps is to raise them up to at least waist level where their sound is not aiming at peoples' legs and feet.

Taking the characteristics of your band and your venue into consideration is also very important. While I play a lot of different venues with this little amp, I'm pretty meticulous about amp placement and location, as well as amping options such as amping as a personal monitor and plugging into an FOH, vs amping into existing mics, vs amping for everyone to hear, etc., etc. And if I'm playing with loud instruments, I'll always use my pre-amped piezo setup because its voicing cuts through without bleed or reverb problems. If I'm playing with a sensitively played acoustic combo I'll use my mounted mic because its tone is so much nicer.

Lastly here's a plug for going totally wireless. If you have a battery powered amp, going the next step with wireless dongles is just the natural choice. There's nothing like the convenience of having no wires between your double bass and your amp setup. There is a large variety of wireless dongles available starting at less than $40 a piece. I carry two wireless TX and RC sets, fully charged and ready to go, so I can recharge one set while using the other if necessary. Sometimes, if I'm using both my pre-amped piezo set and my mounted mic, I'll use both at the same time.

Especially when you're schlepping around a double bass, light weight amp options and flexibility are the name of the game.

I'll throw this into the mix... This being the Covid season, the venue being a golf course and things being what they are, I'd bet there's a chance you'll be playing outside sometime. That means AC power may or may not be easily available.

I've been using a Roland Micro Cube Bass RX for both indoor and outdoor playing. I'm not 100% pleased with the tone voicing because it's a general purpose bass amp, not one dedicated to double bass tone, but from a power standpoint it's pretty amazing. This is a <15# 4"x4 speaker combo amp that runs for about 20 hours on 6AA batteries. It's rated at 5w, but that's because it's tuned for battery power -- the real sound power is more like somewhere between 60w and 100w depending on how you stand it. I can use it with my double bass using either my pre-amped piezo system or with my mounted mic.

The secret with small amps is to raise them up to at least waist level where their sound is not aiming at peoples' legs and feet.

Taking the characteristics of your band and your venue into consideration is also very important. While I play a lot of different venues with this little amp, I'm pretty meticulous about amp placement and location, as well as amping options such as amping as a personal monitor and plugging into an FOH, vs amping into existing mics, vs amping for everyone to hear, etc., etc. And if I'm playing with loud instruments, I'll always use my pre-amped piezo setup because its voicing cuts through without bleed or reverb problems. If I'm playing with a sensitively played acoustic combo I'll use my mounted mic because its tone is so much nicer.

Lastly here's a plug for going totally wireless. If you have a battery powered amp, going the next step with wireless dongles is just the natural choice. There's nothing like the convenience of having no wires between your double bass and your amp setup. There is a large variety of wireless dongles available starting at less than $40 a piece. I carry two wireless TX and RC sets, fully charged and ready to go, so I can recharge one set while using the other if necessary. Sometimes, if I'm using both my pre-amped piezo set and my mounted mic, I'll use both at the same time.

Especially when you're schlepping around a double bass, light weight amp options and flexibility are the name of the game.

I did use a mic up to the bridge back in the 80's. Thanks I had forgotten about that sound.

 

[Joe Tully]

I bought a Traynor 112 from Gollither Music. 200wt into one 12". Very compact unit. So far so good.